VAT on private school fees the gateway to VAT on university?

[LalaPaloosa]

Am I being unreasonable to think this is just the beginning for VAT on education? Once VAT on private schools is bedded down, Labour will start looking at universities. Think about how much they can make there.

A stray cat in Deptford is worth more than the VAT that will be raised by Starmers’ pitiful envy-riddled policy.

There is a move to switch to graduated fees, so programmes like medicine would be able to charge more and higher ranked unis could charge more. But the only reason these things have been discussed is because the Tory visa changes are killing universities.

I'm voting Labour purely because of the ott reaction of the tone deaf private school parents on Mumsnet highlighting societal inequalities and the need for this kind of proposal to redress the balance. I had been planning to vote either lib dem or the local independent but every time i see another whining post by rich people about paying VAT on a luxury service, it strengthens my resolve.

This is the reality of the situation but also unfortunately we probably need the bottom ranking fifteen or so universities to fail. It’s the only way to readjust the system. Increasing fees will make everything worse for everyone since most universities are already making a loss on home students and are struggling to increase international numbers to bring in cash. Of course it would cause chaos for those studying at those universities. Mergers aren’t the answer either because we need those establishments to no longer be there.

For the love of God, can Mumsnet set up a private school fees section so that tone deaf privileged parents can complain that putting VAT on school fees means that Jarlath can’t go and build a mud hut for the natives in Zanzibar this year in peace? Thx bye x

You’re probably right about 15 or so needing to fail.

but i don’t know any other business sector where the prices they can charge are dictated by the govt and where the business is expected to provide goods/services at a loss. It’s crazy.

Could we start taxing threads about private schools, please? The government would be quids in.

I can’t understand why posters are so confident Labour won’t tax uni fees. Once one form of education is fair game, they will, regretfully, extend it to other fees in the future. It’s actually fairly easy for them to do this.

Cognitive dissonance, bless them.

Good point, you’re absolutely right. It probably would raise more funds than Starmer’s chaos.

the absolute state of this comment.

Says way more about @BananaLambo than it does about any parent of kids at private school. Awful.

Or they think it's a good idea.

Or they don't care.

I'm in the latter bracket. Tax on university fees doesn't matter to me one bit apart from all the good that could be done with those extra taxes.

I'm with @BananaLambo

What does it say about us, exactly? I'd love to see in black and white.

Tell me you know nothing about the labour and cooperative movement!
You are applying your own desire to "make money" as motivation for any and every policy.
This is not about making money.

Private school fees are paid in the vast majority of cases by private individuals. If you charge VAT on that then it's a gain to the Treasury.

University fees are paid for by the government out of borrowing and repaid in part by students plus interest, which at the moment is slightly less than the government is paying out on their borrowing. So if you increased university fees by 20% then you'd increase government borrowing, you'd increase the unrepaid deficit that the government have to pick up, and at the moment you'd increase the excess interest they have to repay. Can you see why that's not a gain for the Treasury?

Think about it. Who would actually be paying that VAT?

Because they aren't comparable.
And Because itsnot about taxing things to make money.
It's about a level playing field.

Thank you. This.

Oh yes, there is that!

This ^

Nooo keep it going. Let’s tax the vat on private school threads.. That money can then be used to pay for the teachers! And the sports fields. And the music.. and everything.

I doubt it tbh. Any government that wants to address social inequality will differentiate between private schooling and university, given that the first fuels it, so they will see little problem in making it prohibitive, and the second addresses it, so should be made more affordable so not to gatekeep the less wealthy. More cynically, VAT on university is likely to be unpopular with large numbers of the electorate. VAT on private schools is popular with many, with most others not caring either way.

If you want to reduce social inequality in education, wouldn't it be better to ban private schooling instead?

If you want to reduce social inequality though tax, wouldn't it be better to increase income tax instead?

Keeping private schooling in place but making it more exclusive seems a weird half-way house to choose.

When were uni tuition fees introduced?

How delightfully patronising.

Being able to recognise desperate Tory party scare-mongering isn't "cognitive dissonance", it's pattern-matching.

If you're really worried about universities then you'd do well not to vote Conservative. The policies they've already implemented are destroying the entire sector.